From tequilas and whiskies to rosés and Champagnes, the number of drinks brands co-created by actors, athletes, and musicians is on the rise. But what do celebrity-founded products tell us about the power of parasocial relationships? And is D2C really a replacement for brand endorsement?
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Rowena Curlewis is the co-founder and CEO of international drinks design agency Denomination. Working across all drinks disciplines from spirits to wine to RTD, she has lectured and chaired panels in design, innovation, and drinks packaging globally.
Robert P. Pelletier has financially engineered and co-founded public traded companies including WaterBank of America (USA) Inc., North American Spring Water, Chase Communication Network, and Talent Corp. Located in Miami Florida, his latest entrepreneurial venture is Grapestars, an app dedicated to celebrity wine and spirits brands.
Tim Lightbourne is the co-founder and director of Invivo & Co, a New Zealand-based winery that produces wine brands in partnership with Graham Norton and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Dr. Jacopo Mazzeo is a freelance wine and drinks journalist and consultant.
He regularly contributes to leading trade and consumer publications including Wine Enthusiast, Whisky Magazine, Decanter, Meininger, Club Oenologique, Harper's, Pix Wine, and Good Beer Hunting. He consults on consumer trends and marketing strategy and offers copywriting services to drinks firms and agencies. Jacopo is a former sommelier, he judges international wine, beer, and spirits competitions, and sat twice on the board of directors of the British Guild of Beer Writers. Before he embraced full-time journalism, he studied musicology at the University of Bologna and took a PhD at the University of Southampton.
